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Australia’s April Retro-Extravaganza

UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, I unfortunately have to postpone WOzFest 12:00 – the new date is Saturday 25 May 2019, all other details remain the same. Steve in Brisbane has decided to also postpone QFest 12 to the same date. This of course means there won’t be a video hookup to GORF, which is a real shame.

With the announcements of WOzFest 12:00, QFest 12 and GORF in late April, Australia is set to have a great Autumn for retro-enthusiasts, especially those on (or able to get to) the Eastern Seaboard.

I’ve always encouraged other enthusiasts to have gatherings, and frequent WOzFest attendee Murray has had a couple at his place over the last few months, which he has christened Nozfest – the most recent, Nozfest II, was held in mid-January.

But GORF is the first multi-day retro-event I’m aware of in Australia since OzKFest 2017, and I’m really excited that it’s being held.

I became aware of GORF as I was finalising the date for WOzFest 12:00 – I had to think long and hard about the timing of WOzFest 12:00 once I was aware of GORF on two fronts: I badly wanted to go to GORF, and if I couldn’t I didn’t want to “interfere” with it.

However, the stars were not quite aligned for me to attend (much as I was sorely tempted) and I had a few reasons to stick to my chosen date – that plus the fact Steve in Brisbane could also accommodate that date for a QFest made it a pretty easy decision to stick to my original plans for 27 April.

What this does, then, is give those who can’t attend GORF but can get to Sydney or Brisbane an opportunity to feel some retro-love that weekend – and I’m hoping to do a three-sided video hookup between WOzFest 12:00, QFest 12 and GORF to further minimise our sense of loss. (If possible, I’d love that to be streamed, but this is the first anyone has heard of it!)

If you can make any of these three events, please do – it’ll be a landmark week for Australian retro-enthusiasts. If you can’t, consider holding one yourself, and maybe we can have many simultaneous retro-gatherings not just in Australia, but in other countries, too…oh come on! I can dream, can’t I?!